Invader Zim: Countdown to Doom
by Raven-igma
Summary: After a years disappearance, Zim returns to Earth as an enemy of the Irken Empire with a new goal in mind, but he'll need help. Sides must be chosen, after all, the clock is ticking... ZADF DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue

**Sup err'body. -crickets-**

**Umm… okay then, this will be my first fanfiction with an actual story line to it (my two other fanfics are just drabble thingy piles of shit). My writing style is pretty rough at the moment so… feel free to make suggestions (ex. more detail here, blah blah blah), I'm hoping to improve it so it won't be as choppy as this prologue feels to me. Anyways, about the actual fanfic, it'll eventually be ZaDf (that means no fucking xD) but the story isn't just Zim and Dib centric, you'll see what I mean later IF I actually decide to continue this thing. I've got about 3 chapters planned out already, let's just see how it goes…**

**Enough of my shit, let's do this.**

A slow smile spread across Dib's face. This was it! All systems were online, engines working at full capacity, everything was up and running. It had taken some time but he was sure Tak's ship was finally ready to make the jump into space!

Dib disconnected the power cord hooked up to the spittle and climbed into the cockpit, quickly pressing a few buttons, sending power to the jets.

"Gaz!" He called over his shoulder to the purple haired girl leaning against the far wall of the garage, "Can you raise the door for me?"

Gaz looked up from her Game Slave with a glare and grumbled, but never the less complied. She slammed her fist on the button that raised the garage door before turning her attention back to her game. Dib lowered the spittle runner's windshield as the ship began to levitate, "Alright," he said to himself, "let's put this thing to the test."

The garage door shutter lifted and the quiet night greeted Dib, the ship barely made any noise as it slowly drifted forwards out onto the driveway. Dib took a deep breath and gripped the controls tight, the next second the ship shot into the sky. It never failed to amaze, his house disappeared in mere moments, along with the neighbourhood, the city, and soon he was over the Pacific Ocean.

He piloted the spittle higher and higher into the atmosphere, beginning to get nervous. Because the main power source was destroyed when the ship first crash landed in front of his house, it had to constantly be recharged through a replacement power source. But human and Irken technology didn't mix well, so the ship could only be used for short periods of time.

Dib had never before tested its ability to go into space.

The spittle's frame began to rattle as it flew above the clouds. Dib clenched his teeth and pressed a few buttons on the screen, forcing more power into the engines, "Come on just a little higher…!"

Then at once the shaking abruptly stopped.

Dib looked up in surprise to see the empty vastness of space in front of him, his face lit up with realization, "YES, I can't believe it! I actually made it out of the Earth's atmosphere!" he piloted the ship further away from the Earth, his home, before doing a quick 180 to face the blue and green planet. "All I need to do now is find a sufficient power source for Tak's ship…" he was talking to himself in his usual manner, watching the Earth spin slowly below, it looked so much more beautiful from up where he was than down on the surface…

The people on Earth were stupid, blind and primitive; at least that's how Dib saw them. They ignored the truth, even when it was shoved in their faces, Dib frowned. He had tried to show them that an alien was living amongst them, planning on bringing the downfall of the human race, he'd been trying for 3 years now. It was almost like they didn't _want _to be helped.

And maybe that would be the cause of their demise, their obliviousness. They thought they could just live perfectly isolated, when so many other things in the galaxy existed, maybe they could be the next planet conquered by an alien race. Maybe Zim had gone to fetch the armada and they really were all doomed.

That raised another question: _where exactly was Zim? _About a year ago he went missing, and Dib of course was the only one to notice. His base was shut down; Dib couldn't get into the lower labs to collect evidence that the alien even existed. Was he dead? Was he coming back?

He should be relieved that the alien was gone but somehow it just made him more uneasy.

"I have to show them what's out there," Dib mumbled, "and with this ship I can find proof." He glanced at the energy level readings on the control panel: 73%. _The ship will be good for another few hours _he estimated, when it got down in the 30's he would have to go back. Until then he could do what he wanted as long as he didn't stray too far from the Earth's orbit.

For the longest time Dib just stared at the Earth spinning slowly below, he was amazed at the possibilities! He could choose any destination in the world and be there in _seconds_ because the ship was so incredibly _fast. _And it was _his. _

Something in the distance caught his eye, a satellite maybe? He steered Tak's ship in that direction, no, the thing was too oddly shaped to be a satellite. Dib's excitement grew as he drew closer to it, it was huge, and it looked like some sort of base… familiar somehow…

Then he noticed the Irken symbol on it and broke into a full out grin.

_Of course, it's one of Zim's bases! From that one time when Gaz really wanted to go out for Pizza…_ How could he have forgotten about this? He slapped himself in the forhead. This was exactly the kind of evidence he needed!

Using Tak's ship, Dib sped towards the base.

**The title will probably be only temporary, it's the only thing I can think of at the moment.**

**Flames welcome, critiques will be blocked… WAIT a minute, that's not right o_O**

**R&R**


	2. Chapter 1 Exploration

**Okaaaay... here goes chapter 1 (the chapters will get longer I swear -3-)**

**Anyways, trying to get into Dib's character, he doesn't like me very much. My writing style feels very... uh, Idunno choppy I guess? I'm having trouble with details and explaining character thoughts and stuff that is the stuff of writing. Hope to improve on that, tell me what you think. **

Dib was glad he'd kept a flashlight in the spittle; the Irken space station was dark, Zim must have cut the power a while ago.

Dib jumped out of the ship and clicked on the flashlight, he had landed in some sort of hanger on the upper part of the base, he was eager to do some exploring. He cursed himself for forgetting to bring his camera but he could always go back for it later, right now he was just curious to see what exactly Zim had kept up here.

How exactly something this big had passed right under the governments nose was beyond him, then again, Dib wasn't really that surprised. A gigantic freaking mutant hamster could prance around the city and no one would suspect that alien tampering had anything to do with it.

"They'll have to believe me if I manage to show them this." Dib murmured, mostly trying to convince himself.

The room Dib was in was huge and dome shaped, the walls were covered with sleek Irken machinery that was steel blue in colour, and it was eerily quiet. Dib shone the flashlight around, the beam of light finally falling on a large door. His footsteps echoed around him as he walked towards it. Once he reached it he turned and looked back at Tak's ship, quickly memorizing its location in the massive room, the last think he wanted to do was get lost and be stuck in space.

He recalled that the last time he was up here he'd been captured by Zim and Gaz had come to the rescue. Dib wasn't entirely sure how she had managed to get aboard the base but knowing her she had probably found some really obvious and easy way, she always managed to find shortcuts whether it be real life or one of her video games.

Dib turned his attention towards the giant door, it appeared to be sealed shut, there appeared to be no clear way to open it.

"Um… open?" Nothing happened, he scratched his head. "Okaaay… huh?" he noticed a small panel on the right side of the door and went over to it. There were no buttons on the panel, just a touch screen that booted when he went near it. '**Sleep Mode**' it read in neon yellow letters, Dib poked at the screen and the letters disappeared only to be replaced by some words in Irken. There were 2 sets of words, one on top and one on the bottom, the set on top was highlighted. '_Lock hatch'_ and '_open hatch'_ Dib read; he'd memorized some of the Irken alphabet.

He selected '_open hatch _'and the screen disappeared, "Heh, too easy," He said with a smirk.

"**Initiating base start up," **A huge yawn sounded from the tiny screen, the voice had a computerized echo, "**Eh? What do you want?" **It sounded tired.

'_How can a computer be tired?' _Dib thought, scowling. "I thought you were Zim's house computer."

"**Yeah, well I'm also the main AI up here." **The computer seemed to roll its eyes, **"You interrupted my sleep, this better be important."**

"I need you to open this door for me."

"**And why should I do that? If I recall, you're the one that was constantly trying to expose my master to your society. Besides, Zim instructed me not to let anyone into the base."**

Dib clenched his fists, growing frustrated, but managed to calm himself down. If he couldn't get the computer to let him in he could at least try to get information out of it. He asked the nagging question, "Where is Zim anyway?"

He could almost hear the shrug in the computer's voice, **"I don't know, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you."**

Dib sighed, "Look, I don't have a camera with me, or anything else like that, I can't take evidence that this place even exists. I'm just curious to know what's up here."

The computer gave a snort.

"I could even try to find some information on where Zim went, he's been missing for over a year now." Dib offered hopefully. "Just let me look around for a few hours."

After a few moments of contemplation the computer spoke again, **"I don't really care where he went but I can see that you're not going to leave so, fine…"** the door gave a tiny mechanical hiss as it rose. **"Just don't do anything stupid or I'll vaporize you… or something..." **It said lazily, Dib nodded.

There weren't any visible lights but the wide hallway beyond seemed to light up as the door opened all the way. He proceeded forwards, and at the end of the hallway was another door that opened as he approached.

The next room looked like one huge circular elevator, he stepped onto the platform and it started to descend.

"Whoa…" he couldn't help but gaze in awe at the view. The elevator shaft was made up of what appeared to be purple glass or some other Irken material; he could see the Earth and stars through it. Dib didn't like to admit it but Irken technology was _amazing_, years and years more advanced than human technology. He sometimes wondered how, if Zim had this kind of equipment at his fingertips, he hadn't taken over the world already.

"Oh right," Dib said, rolling his eyes, "because he's Zim."

The elevator entered the next section of the base. Dib stepped off and after a few minutes of walking, found himself in a familiar area. Jagged wires stuck out from the top of the cylinders lined up in a row on the far side of the room.

_Zim's insane cackle rang throughout the room._

"_You can't escape by teleporter, little Gaz, I've cut the power!" he proclaimed from the top of the teleporters, he wasn't lying. The cords had been cut, leaving the wires to spark and crackle from the electricity they gave off. _

_Zim hopped down, "Your pitiful rescue attempt is nothing but a pitiful failure!" _

Dib couldn't help but crack a smile. Gaz _had _rescued him that time, for her own reasons he was sure but a rescue was still a rescue. If she hadn't come he would've been a pile of displaced organs.

Everything felt normal back then, now it just didn't seem real. He sometimes missed his old fights with Zim. It was a habit. _A routine_.

He knew in the back of his mind that Zim couldn't really be gone. _Could he?_

Dib shook his head, not wanting to get caught up in his thoughts. It was time to look for some…stuff. He turned on the flashlight and glanced around the area. It appeared that the room forked off into 3 different passageways: the one he'd just come from, a hallway to the right and a hallway straight ahead.

He was pretty sure the hallway to the right led to that experimentation chamber Zim had brought him to so he chose the hallway straight ahead, wanting to check out a new area. Dib took a deep breath and proceeded.

**So... not much is a happenin' but it'll pick up in the next chaptarblarh.**

**Oh yeah, and if you spotted and mistakes that I missed, tell me.**

**Kthx.**

**R&R **


	3. Chapter 2 Crashed

**Okay so from now on the chapters will be longer, those first few chapters were pree' uneventful but hopefully this will be more interesting. Also, I really hate to beg but please review ._. I don't know if people like it, hate it, want to curb stomp it, etc, it would be nice to know. Oh yeeeah, and I should probably put the ages of the characters also.**

**Dib: 16**

**Gaz:15**

**Zim: is whatever, doesn't really matter for him**

**Oh, and thank you saberkit667 for reviewing xD I think you're the only one actually reading my piece of crap.**

_**74:3:27:52**_

The numbers towered over Dib as he stared up at the gigantic screen with a growing sense of unease. A soft mechanical click was heard with every passing second. The room he had wandered into contained nothing but a screen that took up one entire wall and a panel that controlled said screen.

Dib hadn't touched the panel; some sort of timer had already been set. And it was _counting down, _but to _what? _Dib could only wonder.

The numbers, he guessed, represented days, hours, minutes and seconds. They were a bright neon green that lit up the dim room. He pressed a few buttons on the panel but nothing happened, the numbers still stayed, not giving any sort of hint as to what they were for.

"What does this mean?" he murmured to himself, not really expecting an answer.

"**Your guess is as good as mine."**

Dib jumped as the computer's voice spoke from seemingly nowhere. He glanced up in irritation, "You don't even know?"

"**No, that timer started weeks ago. I have no clue what it does and I can't shut it off." **the computer yawned, **"Anyways, are you done yet? I want to go back to sleep." **

It had been hours and he was pretty sure he'd covered most of the base, plus he_ could_ always come back later… with a camera to take evidence… Besides, he had found nothing on Zim's whereabouts and all the computers were locked, the main computer refused to give him the password.

"Yeah, I'm leaving now." Dib said, though something about the clock still bothered him. He exited the room and started walking down a long corridor, then suddenly realized something; he had no clue where he was.

"I'm lost." he said, "Computer!"

"_**Whaaaaat…?" **_the robotic voice answered, sounding extremely irritated.

"Uh, could you by any chance show me how to get back to my ship?"

The computer sighed loudly, a small screen floated down and hovered in front of Dib, it showed a map of the entire base and a little dot for his location. A red line lit up between the dot and a familiar shaped area. **"Just follow that until you get back to the hanger." **

"Thanks!" He called.

"**Whatever."**

-o-o-o-this is a linebreak-o-o-o-

Gaz wasn't at all concerned when her brother did not return from his test flight of Tak's ship on time. It was normal for him to get caught up in something stupid, but in the end he always came home in one piece (much to her annoyance). He had left at around 10 pm and said he would be back in a few hours, it was about 4:30 am now and the house was empty.

Gaz had tried falling asleep a few times but found she couldn't, too restless perhaps, so instead she lay in bed slaughtering vampire piggies on her Game Slave.

A bang and a curse from downstairs jolted her attention from the game, with a growl she shut it off and placed it on her nightstand before jumping off the bed to go give Dib a piece of her mind for being so loud. The hallway outside her room was dark as none of the lights in the house were turned on. A few more crashes could be heard as she made her way downstairs, feeling along the wall. "What the hell, Dib?" she hissed as she entered the living room and flicked the light on.

The TV and one of the Prof. Membrane lamps had been knocked over and noises could now be heard from the kitchen now. "Dib?" she called, confused.

At once the noises abruptly stopped, Gaz opened her eyes and glared, now furious at the thought of an intruder; whoever was in her house obviously wasn't her brother. She folded her arms, "Come out, I know you're there." Silence was the answer she got.

Fearless, she proceeded into the kitchen, it was empty. She clenched her teeth, about to turn and yell something angrily, but she was knocked to the floor. A hand wrapped around her throat and pinned her down, she coughed as the person's grip tightened. Since the kitchen was dark except for the light coming from the living room, she couldn't see the attacker. Grabbing their wrist, she tried to push them off but was met with cold metal pressed against the side of her face, a knife.

Her eye's widened, rage building inside of her, who would dare -?

"Get. Off." she said, deadly calm.

"Tell me where he is, I know he lives here!" the person growled, it definitely sounded like a male voice.

The knife pressed deeper into her skin, making a small cut on her cheek much to her demonic fury. "Security!" she yelled, the person seemed startled but didn't have time to react as a dark blur suddenly slammed into him. He flew back and hit the cupboards hard with a grunt before falling to the floor.

The shape that had tackled him hissed, glowing red eyes flashing with anger. It was one of her dolls. The huge purple monkey stood beside her, waiting for its next order, more of her dolls gathered by her sides as she stood up.

"Turn on the light," she said, and a green snake obediently slithered over and flicked the switch with its tail before returning to the ranks.

The person who had attacked her lay on the floor unmoving, he was presumably unconscious. Gaz walked over and rolled him over with her foot, he didn't stir and his eyes were closed. "Hm," she contemplated on what to do with him, destroy him? He had threatened her, so it would only be fair.

Part of her was curious to know who he was and who exactly he was looking _for_, the other part of her didn't care and wanted to command her dolls to send him into oblivion.

He looked like he was in his early twenty's, with dark blue-black hair and a long black trench coat. Something caught her eye, on one side of his head there appeared to be two metal tubes connected from his temple that ran around to the back of his head.

Now she was curious, but if he woke up he would no doubt try and kill her... She picked up the knife that lay on the ground beside him; it was one of the kitchen knives.

The dolls stood silently, a few of them shifted a bit, impatiently waiting for the instruction to destroy and devour. Gaz looked at them, and with an inward command the dolls shot forwards.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Tak's ship sped away from the base, its pilot somewhat satisfied with his discoveries. He'd wanted to keep exploring but Gaz would probably get worried because of his absence.

"There's no rush anyways," Dib said to himself, "this is only the beginning of new discoveries, when I come back I can probably find something in Zim's base that'll help be fix this ships core!" He was excited at the thought, "I could explore the universe, the galaxy! Man, this is so cool."

The paranormal investigator continued on, gazing out the ship's window with a determined stare, the Earth really did look nice from up in space, "I could show them all. They'll all thank me, they'll praise me." That was what he wanted wasn't it? To be looked up to and praised? He supposed so.

But maybe it was a waste, so much effort on a society that almost didn't want to be helped. Maybe they didn't want to be shown the truth, that there might be other things out there. Maybe they pretended to be stupid and enjoyed living in blind ignorance.

"But I'm human, aren't I? So then why aren't I as stupid as the rest?" His brow pinched, trying to imagine what it would be like. If he'd never taken an interest in the paranormal, would he be happier that way? Abandoning his paranormal studies would be like dying at this point in his life, he was too far into it._ It_ was him. But what if, from the very start, Dib had just simply not become the Dib he was now?

It was unfathomable.

_What if I had never intercepted that transmission?_

_What if I had never recognized that alien that walked into my class 4 years ago?_

_What if I had never met Zim?_

Dib was jolted from his monologue as a sudden explosion rocked the ship. "Gah!" he was thrown sideways, nearly losing his hold on the controls, "What the-? Oh… no way!"

Three Irken ships were battling it out straight ahead as he stared in disbelief.

It looked like it was two against one, and judging by the smoke rising from that one's left engine and dented hull, it was losing BAD. The two other ships bared resemblance to Tak's; they were both sleek spittle runners though dark purple in colour as opposed to the red one he flew.

The two ships charged at the beaten up one, one pulling into a dive and then coming up to hit the ship from under, the other one smashed into the front from an angle. The one taking the abuse spun out of control before sluggishly coming to a stop and righting itself up. It looked like it was about to fall apart.

The thing that surprised Dib most about the unexpected dogfight _wasn't _the fact that two Irken's were attacking a ship of _their own kind_. It was the fact that said ship looked strikingly familiar.

A purple voot.

_Zim._

A loud beeping noise cut through the confusion, signalling that he was receiving a transmission. He glanced down at the screen of the control panel; _one of the attacking ships was trying to contact him._

"Well," Dib said, eyes widening slightly, "this isn't good."

_What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?_ He panicked. What would _they_ do if they found a human piloting an Irken ship?

The attacking spittle that had contacted him turned towards Dib. _Crap, crap, crap, crap._ He had to answer sometime. Dib pressed a button quickly, hoping that the Irken was blind. A female looking face appeared on the screen, the Irken had green eyes and curled antennae.

"Identify yourself, you are in an unauthorized spittle runner," she spoke firmly. Dib didn't know how to respond, he looked past her ship to see the voot still being pummelled by the other spittle.

If it was Zim in the voot then what exactly_ did_ he do? Save him? Flee?

_Why is he being attacked anyway? I thought he was an Invader. _Dib thought with a suspicious frown.

"I said identify yourself, alien! You are obviously not Irken so what are you doing in that ship?" He looked down at the screen, the Irken's eyes were narrowed. "Answer me before I blow you up!"

Dib narrowed his eyes right back at her, "I'm a human, now tell me why you're attacking that voot!"

She blinked, before glaring hatefully at him, "Listen 'hyoo-man', I am the one asking questions here and _you_ are answering them! I'll-"

_**BOOM!**_

One of the voot's engines exploded, sending it out of control. It spiralled towards planet Earth and without a second thought, Dib shot after it. He needed to get away from the two other Irkens anyway.

The green-eyed Irken was yelling something at him from the screen but he quickly cut off the transmission as he entered the atmosphere after the voot. The same rattling came over Tak's ship as before but he was determined not to let Zim's ship out of his sight, he needed answers.

The other Irkens were probably following him, he flew faster after the voot, breaking through the clouds and coming out over a city. Zim's ship suddenly dropped to the right and shot like a rocket towards some mountains nearby. Dib was determined not to lose him and relentlessly pursued.

Where were the other Irkens though? Had he lost them through the clouds? He sure hoped so.

Then he saw Zim's ship disappear below the treetops of a forest and seconds later a plume of fire rose into the night sky. Dib's eyes widened, a sort of bewildered horror taking over him. _Could Zim be… no… no he can't be dead. _

Zim was evil, Zim was the enemy, but this was just too confusing. He actually_ feared_ for the alien's life.

Dib pulled down and landed quickly and silently a fair ways away from the crash, but close enough that he could feel the heat and see the beginnings of the flames through the trees. He climbed out of the cockpit, quickly scanning the skies for any signs of the two other Irkens, before running towards the crash site.

Luckily there was no one else around and the skies were bare.

Leaves crunched under his feet as he ran, the fire and heat intensified as he drew closer. The voot was a pile of twisted metal that lay under the burning trees. It was getting harder to breathe and see; Dib had to hold his sleeve over his mouth and nose because of the smoke. The fire was spreading rapidly, where was Zim?

Then Dib spotted something, lying on the ground several feet away from the wrecked ship was a small form. He darted over and crouched beside it, the red and black colour scheme of the Invader clothes all too familiar.

He realized he'd been right, the pilot _was _Zim.

The Irken was obviously unconscious. His green skin was bruised and bloody, one of his arms was twisted at an awkward angle and his eyes were closed. Dib wasn't even sure if the Irken was alive.

A burning branch came crashing down not three feet from them. _Okay, definitely time to get out of here. _

Dib quickly snatched up Zim in his arms and made a dash for Tak's ship, inhaling deeply as he got further away from the choking smoke. He reached the ship and tossed Zim in the back, then climbed back into the front seat and started up the spittle. The ship rose into the sky high above the burning trees.

"Oh crap!" Dib exclaimed, "What about the forest fire and the voot?" Someone would report the forest fire, he hoped, but he wasn't sure about someone finding the remains of the voot. Call it selfishness, but Dib felt as if _he_ should be the one to reveal proof of alien existence. It was too dangerous to go and retrieve it now anyways. He'd have to wait and hope that it didn't get discovered _before_ he came back.

Right now he had to return home and get some answers from Zim. That is_ if_ he woke up.

**Aaaaaand end of chapter.**

**Welp, I kind of liked how this one turned out, except for the end which was kind of rushed. Awww yeeeah, 2500+ words, the length of the first 2 chapters combined. So anyways, any idea who the person was that attacked Gaz? (It's obvious isn't it? XD) Things is only going to get more interesting (or stupid) from here on out peopoh. **

**And PLEASE, give me feedback! I need motivation or someone to tell me what they think of the story so far –forever alone-**

**R&R Kay?**


	4. Chapter 3 Questions

**Alright, next chapter. **

**Hopefully I'll be able to get Dib out of his blah blah blah stage soon and get the real partay started woo. I don't want to lose steam on this story so soon, especially since it's my first one and before I get to the main point xD I… don't really know what will happen though, I mean I have a general idea of where the story is going to go but if you have any suggestions I'm open to 'em. I'm hoping to make this like… 10 or 20 chapters, maybe more. That is, if I even get that far. I'm mainly making this fanfic so I can improve from it, I know it's not very good but I need to start somewhere, right?**

The familiar town came into view, on the short trip back there had been no signs of the two Irkens. Dib was glad for that. Questions still raged in his mind though, he hoped they'd be answered soon.

Soon the ship was flying over his neighborhood, he'd be home in a few minutes, but a sudden thought struck him. Could those two Irkens track his ship? If they could he didn't want to lead them to his house, or to Gaz. So instead he opted for the only other choice: the strange green house in the middle of the cul de sac.

The ships energy levels were at 41%, "Wow, flying through the atmosphere really drains it." Dib said. He reached the bizarre house quickly; it wasn't too hard to find. And the fact that he knew its exact location helped a lot. But as Dib drew closer he realized that there was no clear place to land, "Gnomes ahoy…" he mumbled and parked on a makeshift spot in between the creepy garden gnomes out on the front lawn. They didn't stir and he powered off the ship, grabbed Zim and another item, and stepped out.

He was glad he'd planned ahead; the item he had grabbed was a crude substitute for a cloaking device (he made a mental note to install one later). Dib threw the tarp over the ship, he briefly wondered if the neighbors would think something was up. "Nah," Dib waved a hand dismissively and walked over to the front door (which was also a men's bathroom door). The horizons were just starting to turn a light blue.

He entered the house with the beaten up Zim slung over one shoulder, he lay the alien down on the couch. The top floor was dark, which wasn't a surprise seeing as the base was powered down, he blinked and let his eyes adjust. The place looked the same as when he'd last been infiltrating the aliens' house, again, no surprise.

He sat down at the foot of the couch, maybe it had been creeping up on him the whole night, but right then he realized how tired he was. Dib leaned his head back and closed his eyes, though not really intending to go to sleep. He just sat there and let his thoughts consume him.

_Okay, so I guess the only thing left to do is wait for him to wake up, _he thought and cast a sideways glance at Zim. The Irken was without his disguise, it would be the perfect time to expose him to the authorities.

"No, I can't do that." Dib frowned, "At least not yet."

It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was just that… well, he wasn't too sure. He sighed, it was ironic really; he had a real chance here to prove to Earth that aliens did exist (something he'd been trying to prove for a while now) and he _didn't_ take it.

Dib sat in silence for a while, watching the sky through the oddly shaped windows. It steadily grew lighter, the horizons turning from a dull blue to yellow to salmon pink.

-o-o-o-o-

Gaz clenched her fists and growled through her teeth, frustration threatening to take over her. The idiot still hadn't shut up. What was he screaming about now? Oh, _ripping her eyes out of her sockets and shoving them down her throat._ She rolled her eyes, partially out of anger and partially out of annoyance that he couldn't come up with anything better than that.

"And why haven't the police arrived yet?" she glared at the phone, "I swear, I called them over two hours ago!"

She stormed downstairs, the phone held tightly in one hand. The only place she could think of to put the idiot had been in the containment chamber down in the lab, not even a rhino could break through it. Why her Dad even had a containment chamber of that caliber was beyond her. Then again, she wasn't that surprised.

The chamber was basically one giant box, the walls were made of a see-through, unbreakable material. As she entered the lab, half a dozen pairs for red eyes turned to look at her from over by the chamber. The person in the chamber also turned to look at her, his yellow-brown eyes narrowed in a hateful glare.

"Mind shutting up for five minutes?" Gaz said, her arms crossed.

"Mind letting me out for five minutes so I can tear you limb from limb?" he retorted.

She raised one eyebrow at this, clearly not impressed. "Here's the deal, how about you tell me why you decided to break into my house? Then _maybe _I'll let you out so my dolls can eat your flesh and chew on your internal organs." To emphasize her point, she snapped her fingers and the snake doll with a dagger attached to the end of its tale lunged towards the glass, its eyes flashing.

"Touché." He said and stepped away from the glass, giving the doll an annoyed but wary glance. "Funny, I'm not usually the one on the receiving end of interrogation."

Gaz didn't know what he meant by this but decided to ignore it, "So what's your name?" she asked, cracking one eye open. He gave her a long glance as if deciding to tell her or not.

"It's Johnny, but because I'm feeling particularly sociable, you can call me Nny." He gave her a long, exaggerated bow.

She raised an eyebrow at this. "Like knee cap? That's stupid." She commented.

Nny's expression turned angry, "No, Nny as in JohNNY. Spelt n-n-y… and your name?"

"It's Gaz. Now tell me why you're here, in my house, breaking my stuff."

Nny sat down cross-legged with a sigh, "Well if it's any consolation _Gaz, _my target wasn't you-"

"Kinda figured that. You came busting in screaming about 'someone who lived here'." Gaz said, Nny narrowed his eyes at being interrupted.

"I was looking for someone who has caused me some… trouble, you just happened to be the only person home. I apologize for the inconvenience." His expression said he meant anything but to apologize.

Gaz looked thoughtful, "Well if you're looking for my brother, feel free to unleash your vengeful wrath or whatever when he comes home. I really couldn't care less."

"Your brother wouldn't happen to be Professor Membrane would he?" Nny asked, quirking an eyebrow. Gaz's eyes widened a bit in surprise, "My Dad?"

He smirked, "Ah, so you're Gaz Membrane, huh? I _knew_ you looked familiar."

Gaz took a step forward, now bristling with anger. Her demon puppets caught on to her mood and started to hiss and growl, their eyes flashing a brighter red. "What do you want with my Dad?"

"What do I want?" Nny asked, chuckling a bit, the next second his eyes widened in maniacal fury, _"What do I want?_ Oh that's simple, I want him _dead._ That fuck had me locked up in some shitty lab for years, undergoing some pretty _fuckin'_ painful experiments. See this?" he gestured to the side of his head where the metal tubes were, "Know what it does?" Gaz didn't respond, her burning glare told him she wasn't going to. "Neither do I. All I know is that it shocks me if I try to rip it out."

"You think I care what happened to you? I'm contemplating just destroying you right now for even _mentioning_ my Dad rather than waiting for the police to show up. As for the revenge thing, you're out of luck. He hasn't been home for over two years, I can barely keep track of where he goes or what he does." She bit out. "You're wasting my time."

With that, she turned to leave, "I'm calling the lab."

Nny seemed to find this hilarious. He burst into an insane laughing fit.

"_What's so funny?" _Gaz hissed.

When Nny settled down he said, "Oh nothing, it's just that there's really no point in doing that."

"Why?"

Johnny grinned with such malevolence that even _Gaz _felt something so unfamiliar to her, she didn't even recognize it at first. _Fear._

"Because everyone at that lab is _dead."_

-o-o-o-o-

The first thing Dib noticed when he woke upwas that he'd fallen asleep at the foot of the couch. He rubbed his eyes groggily and sat up, "Ugh, crap…" he glanced around quickly.

The second thing he noticed was that Zim was nowhere to be found. _Yep, not good._

"Zim?" he called, uneasiness crept into his tone. No response. He stood up slowly and walked over to the kitchen, _he couldn't have gone far…_

And then Dib was suddenly aware of mechanical hissing somewhere above him.

The third thing Dib noticed that wonderful morning was that he'd been knocked to the floor, landing roughly on his hands and knees. He turned to look behind him, a hundred percent sure of who he would see.

Zim was there, suspended by his PAK legs, with the extra height he towered over the young paranormal investigator. The Irkens' deep maroon eyes narrowed in spite. _"Dib."_ He growled, his voice filled with hate. It was a mere acknowledgement of his enemy, at this point in there 'relationship' it could more or less be called a greeting between the two. "I almost expected you to be here when I returned, always like you to stick your big ugly head of filth where it doesn't belong!"

Dib stood up and glared, "The door wasn't even _locked_ you moron! And believe it or not, I'm not here to take evidence or… whatever it is I usually do."

Zim's expression turned to one of suspicion before quickly snapping back to anger "_Lies. _Why else would you be here?"

Dib was somehow amazed by how stupid the alien could be, "If you hadn't noticed, there were two Irkens out there trying to _kill _you. Now I know firsthand that that's a sign you aren't liked too much by _your own kind!"_

To Dib's surprise, Zim let out a yell of rage, he barely had time to move out of the way as a PAK leg came stabbing down. "Whoa!" Dib yelled, "What the hell was that for!"

Zim clenched his fists in the usual fashion, "Insolent Earth-stink! You know NOTHING!"

"Then tell me Zim, why would your own people be attacking you, huh?" He had to dodge around another strike from the metal legs.

"It's none of your business!" Zim said, "Now leave before I decide to do something horrible to your eyes!" A leg shot forwards and caught Dib in the chest and shoulder, the impact sent him flying back into the living room. He landed on his side, winded and coughing. _Jeez, way to treat someone who saved your life, _he thought, rolling his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet. What did he expect really, a thank you? Coming from Zim, it was about as likely as Gaz quitting video games for the rest of her life.

He expected another attack, for the pissed off Irken to come charging at him PAK legs a blazin', but that didn't happen. Instead he saw Zim kneeling on the floor in the kitchen, his spider legs were retracted and he appeared to be in pain. _Well who wouldn't be after crash landing like that? _Dib thought as he approached cautiously.

Suddenly Zim snapped his head up to look up at Dib. Yes, _up_ at Dib, the paranormal investigator realized then how much taller he'd gotten then the Irken. When he'd first met Zim they'd been the same height approximately, years later Dib stood at least a full head taller than his nemesis. Zim was obviously vexed by this. He stood up and drew himself to his full height, which paled in comparison to Dib's.

"What do you want?" he seethed.

"Answers, Zim. I want to know where you disappeared to for a year, and why those Irkens were after you. More importantly, does it have anything to do with Earth?"

"As if your miserable planet was of any significance to me or the Irken Empire!" Zim scoffed and then made a shoeing hand motion, "Now get out of my sight!"

Dib was puzzled by this. Zim was acting really strange, "But that's your mission isn't it? I thought world conquest was your goal."

The aliens' ruby eyes widened, then slowly narrowed to slits. His antennae pressed flat against his skull, he was enraged but somehow Dib could tell it wasn't directed at him.

"It was." Zim stated in a low, dangerous tone. Not one Dib heard him use often. He turned and walked over to a certain spot on the wall, "I have business to attend to. Leave." But Dib pressed further, "No, not until you tell me everything."

A panel slid open in the wall, Zim quickly punched in some numbers and the panel soon closed again. **"BASE START-UP INITIATED." **The familiar computerized voice informed as the base powered on. He turned to Dib, _"_Last warning,_ Dib-monkey."_

It was made clear to Dib that Zim wasn't going to tell him a thing, he could see two of the metal tentacles that covered the ceiling detach themselves from the tangled mess and lower slowly towards himself. He tried to think of something, anything that could change Zim's mind about throwing him out.

"What about that timer?"

The Irken gave him a very confused look, "What are you talking about?"

"In you base orbiting around Earth, I found a timer counting down to something." Dib blurted.

Zim raised an eye ridge before shouting, "Computer!"

"**What do you waaant?" **The very annoyed house system answered.

"You let the Earth-pig into my outer space station?" Zim jabbed an accusing finger at Dib.

"**Yeah,"** it answered, not even trying to deny it.

Zim's eye twitched, he glared at Dib again, "What is this nonsense about a 'countdown'?" he demanded angrily, though the undertone of interest was evident in his voice.

**Yes, woo! I know it's not really a long chapter but this was seriously a pain to write. A Nny and Gaz situation is pretty… uh, unusual. Anyways, I really wanted to update because it's been more than two weeks, and I really need to get this thing going.**

**Hopefully the next chapter will be better. **

**Oh yeah, if you see any typos or errors please tell me!**

**Thank you for all the reviews!**


	5. Chapter 4 Attack

**Gah, sorry for taking so long, distracted by things (Skyward Sword lol)**

**Anyways, there's gonna be some action in this chapter, yay! I like writing fight scenes. Also, two of my OC's are going appear as well, but don't worry, they're only fodder characters and I'll probably kill them later. Enough said, let's get this thing started already!**

**I apologize in advance for how utterly rushed this chapter is ._.**

* * *

><p>"So…" Zim began slowly, "you're telling me that this 'countdown' has only a few months left on it?"<p>

Dib nodded. "I don't know what it's for, I was hoping you would."

Zim still looked suspicious. _Why wasn't he destroying this human?_ "And you found this in _my_ base?"

Dib nodded again. Zim was undeniably curious… it wasn't like they hadn't worked together before, besides, he could always destroy the human later... After another moment or two of contemplation, Zim decided he would allow the human to work with him, just _one_ more time.

"Follow me," he turned and walked towards the toilet, strangely located in the kitchen.

"Err… yeah, I think I'll take the garbage bin this time…" Dib rolled his eyes. The garbage chute was much more pleasant than the toilet bowl, which was a little sad to admit. Considering how many times he'd snuck in here, he of all people would know firsthand.

Zim had already disappeared down the stupidly located toilet.

Dib dropped down the chute and quickly met up with Zim on the lower levels. Now that the base was powered on the air was thick with static and the low hum of alien machinery could be heard. Of course neither noticed this. Zim motioned for the paranormal investigator to follow, he began walking down one of the corridors that made up the under part of the base. It was like a maze, Dib had never actually mapped out the whole place, though he had planned on doing it once.

The two walked in silence for a while. It was odd to both of them; usually they'd be screaming threats at each other right about now.

"The two Irkens," Zim said suddenly, "What happened to those two other Irkens?"

"You mean the ones that were completely owning your ship?" Dib raised an eyebrow, "I lost them."

Zim bristled in anger, he didn't completely understand what Dib meant by 'owning his ship' but he didn't like it. _Stupid Earth-creatures and their stupid sayings._ "I hope you know that after I discover what this countdown _is_, I'm going to destroy you."

The big headed boy shook his head, not even remotely surprised that nothing had changed between them.

They finally reached a room. It was the room Zim usually used for contacting his leaders or accessing the super computer. Again, Dib couldn't help but be amazed by the extent of Irken technology. On the control panel of the computer, lay a small metallic heap, one all that was too familiar. Zim reached into its cup shaped head and flicked a switch, immediately it came to life, its eyes taking on a bright cyan hue. The little droid sat up sharply, and then slowly turned its head to look at him. A huge grin spread across its face as it recognized its master.

"MASTAH, YOU CAME BACK!" Gir shrieked, Dib winced at its' high pitched voice. Zim on the other hand, was used to it. He grabbed Gir by the shoulders, and spoke very clearly, "Alright Gir, this is very important. I need you to go around and make sure that all security systems are running properly. Can you do that for me?"

Gir nodded furiously, then took off, eyes glowing red, he scampered down the hallway screaming, "IMMA MAKE US SOME 'SPLODIN' TAQUITOS!"

Zim sighed in annoyance, while Dib just stared after the thing in utter confusion. This was regular behavior for Gir.

"I still don't get why you keep that robot around, it seems like it does more harm than help for you." Dib remarked.

"Why I keep Gir around is none of your concern." Zim growled, not looking at his rival, he began typing codes into the computer. "Now, you will show me this 'countdown' at once. What sector did you find it in?"

Dib shrugged, "I don't know, it was in some random room in the base orbiting Earth."

"You're useless. Computer!"

"**Sector 7."** The computer grumbled.

A flurry of windows and Irken text shot by on the screen as Zim typed, way too fast for Dib to follow. "It is strange." He said suddenly. The numbers appeared again, a few hours had been knocked off the clock.

The young paranormal investigator looked over at him. "Hm?"

"I was never notified of this, and why it's in such an obscure part of the system doesn't make any sense! What's more is that there is no record of when it started or what it is, it simply appeared without warning." He slammed his fists down on the control panel, "I will get to the bottom of this! No one invades Zim's system, no one!"

Shortly after saying that he winced a bit, Dib didn't miss this however. Zim looked at him with narrowed eyes, "What are you looking at? You think I am weak? HA! In case you were wondering, Irken's recover much quicker from injuries than hyoo-mans do."

"No, not at all. I hate to admit it, but surviving a crash and a forest fire with only a few bruises is actually…quite impressive…" Before the Irken could stick his ego further up his ass, Dib continued, "Though you _could_ show a little more gratitude, I _was_ the one who pulled you from the crash site, you would've died otherwise."

Zim scoffed, but eyed Dib suspiciously "You? I don't believe that. Why would _you_ save me?"

"Like I said, I want answers, Zim. No other reason."

"And why should I give them to you? Oh right, because your _Earth's savior,_" His words dripped with sarcasm, "well believe it or not, my absence didn't concern this dirtball _at all."_ Zim frowned slightly.

Dib was mildly surprised, "What?"

"It is… hard to explain." Zim looked away with a grimace. An awkward silence hung in the air for a while.

Then Girs' little head poked around the corner.

"Mastah? Big head boy?"

The two looked at the droid. Dib's protest of 'my head's not big' was ignored. "What is it, Gir?" Zim asked. A toy octopus sat on the robot's head.

"There are some green people at the door who want to see you."

Alarm flashed across Zim and Dib's faces as they exchanged a quick glance. With a brush of the hand, Zim made a window pop up on the gigantic screen, it showed a camera view of the bizarre living room.

"That's… not good." Dib murmured as he stared up at the screen. The two Irken's from before stood in the living room, the female with green eyes seemed to be surveying her surroundings. She had one hand placed on her hip, and seemed to regard the living room as something beneath her interest. The other Irken appeared to be male, he had bright yellow eyes and jagged antennae.

Both Irkens wore uniforms different from the Invader one Zim wore, with a dark blue and cyan colour scheme and higher collars.

"I thought you said you lost them!" Zim shouted angrily.

"I thought I did! What do these two want anyway?"

"I'm not sure…" Zim admitted, "But we have to get rid of them; they could mean trouble for my plans… and your planet as well!"

"What do you mean?"

"Argh… I'll tell you later, but only if we work together now and get rid of them!" Zim ran to the door of the room, he looked back, expecting Dib to follow.

"Deal," Dib nodded after some consideration, "but you better keep your word!"

The duo proceeded down the corridor.

* * *

><p>"…<em>massacre at Membrane Labs, sixty two scientists confirmed dead…"<em>

Gaz couldn't help but stare at the television screen in complete shock. He wasn't lying. Nny's escape had completely blown up the local news channel, the camera view showed the lab closed up with caution tape, many police and paramedics hovered around the front of it.

"…_ranged from heavy mutilation to burns to…"_

She hated to admit, but a small part of her was _impressed, _a small sick part of her. She threatened many people, but had really only killed one before, and that was only because he had gotten in her way. Nny wasn't all talk as she had suspected; not a poor soul at the lab was left alive. This made her realize that whatever that monster was downstairs posed a threat, and a_ very real _one. She kept watching.

"…_Proffessor Membrane has issued a public warning to avoid the escaped subject at all costs…"_

The screen cut to an image of her father standing in front of a podium, many microphones shoved towards him, and cameras flashing everywhere. He spoke, "I hurried to return from my very important business trip as soon as I heard of this disaster! No one has any reason to panic!"

Anger surged through Gaz,_ I haven't heard a word from you that hasn't come from that stupid robot in years, and the minute something goes wrong in your science work and you come running back? Very typical of you, dad._ She cast a hateful look at the trashed robot lying in the corner of the living room. The thing was useless, all it could do was serve beans and play pre-recorded voice clips and videos of the Professor. It couldn't substitute for a father, hell, it couldn't even substitute for a babysitter.

A picture of Johnny popped up on the screen as Prof. Membrane continued. "I advise that you do not approach this man if you see him, he is incredibly dangerous, but do not fear! We'll have the situation under control soon." The image of Johnny stared at her from the screen, eyes burning with intense malice and hate for_ everything_ and_ everyone_ it seemed. She clicked off the TV. Now there remained the question of what to do. The police were idiots, four hours later and they _still_ hadn't arrived, and she knew that they weren't going to. It was obvious then, she had to call her dad.

Gaz dialed, on the third ring it just went straight to voicemail. And THAT was never getting answered, not with the Professor's busy schedule. She tried again, then again.

"_Fuck."_ She hissed in annoyance and slammed the phone down. What was happening? It was like no one actually_ wanted_ to find Nny.

"This is so stupid, I just want him gone." She crossed her arms and sighed. _And why isn't Dib home yet?_

She glanced at the clock, 8:47. Skool started in around 10 minutes. Normally she wouldn't care what Dib was doing but if there was one thing he insisted on, it was that they both attend skool. He would rarely let her miss a day and he himself kept a near perfect attendance record. If whatever he was doing was _so important _then he should've at least told her.

Irritated, she raised her wrist and activated the two way com. device on her wrist, contacting Dib. A few moments passed before his face appeared on the tiny screen, he was running. From what or to what she didn't know.

"Gaz!" He exclaimed.

"Me." She replied dryly, "Where are you? Skool's about to start, are you not going today or what?"

Dib shook his head, "No, you're not gonna believe this but Zim is back!"

Gaz was genuinely surprised. She raised an eyebrow, "Really? I thought he was gone for good."

"Yeah, he's here! I'm at his base right now, and we're being attacked by these-"

"Stop there. All I wanted to know is if you were going to skool because if you're not, I'm not. Just be home...whenever." With that, she shut off the device. Well, that was just great. Now Dib would be back to his usual 'trying to prove Zim's an alien' phase in no time…

* * *

><p>Dib stared at the blank screen, vaguely disappointed in his sister's usual lack of interest. Whatever, it was better she not get involved anyways.<p>

"Who was that?" Zim asked, glancing back at Dib. They rounded a corner, the elevator leading to the top floor was dead ahead.

"My sister," Dib answered.

"Ah, the scary Gaz-beast." Dib rolled his eyes. "Computer!" Zim suddenly said, "Try and drive the two Irkens out of the base! I want them out!"

"**I'll see what I can do."**

The duo stepped onto the circular elevator and soon ended up on the top floor in the kitchen. The first thing they saw when they arrived was metal; loads of the metal tubes had detached themselves from the ceiling and now attacked the two intruders in an attempt to drive them out. The Irkens fought back, PAK legs out, they effortlessly dodged, ducked and occasionally slashed at the mechanical tentacles. Then the Irken with yellow eyes took something out of his PAK, it looked like a small silver disk. He tossed it up to the ceiling where it disappeared into the sea of machinery.

A few seconds later, a burst of green electricity rippled outwards, paralyzing all of the tentacles it came in contact with. The base's defence easily fell, the tentacles going lax before slowly retracting to the ceiling.

Dib cast a sideways glance at Zim, who growled and narrowed his ruby eyes at the two Irkens.

The female with green eyes just took notice of the two standing there, she turned to face them. "Defect," she said with a scowl, "that was pathetic! Did you really expect your base's weak defence to hold us off?"

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" Zim clenched his fists and yelled at her.

"We've been tracking you for a while, Zim. My name is Kez," she gestured to her silent partner, "this is Relek. It's about time you come with us."

"WHO ARE YOU?"

Dib facepalmed.

The Irken known as Kez just stared blankly at him for a few moments, eyes half-lidded. "I expected as much from you…" she said, "No matter, we don't need _you_ specifically…" She rose up on her PAK legs, getting in a crouching position, "Just your PAK!"

With that she lunged at Zim, whose own mechanical limbs were out in a flash. He sprang backwards and, using two PAK legs, hooked onto the ceiling, using the metal tubes for holds. Kez pursued, "Relek!" she yelled to her partner, "Eliminate the hyoo-man, we have no use for it."

_Oh, crap that's me, _Dib thought. Relek turned his gaze towards him and charged at Dib, using his PAK legs for momentum, he reached Dib in a few bounds. The Irken now towered over him, a spider like limb came stabbing down. He rolled forwards and under Relek, quickly jumping back to his feet on the other side of him.

The Irken turned his head slowly before a PAK leg slashed horizontally at Dib, who staggered backwards in surprise, the deadly point just barely missing his face. He continued to back up into the living room.

Zim and Kez fought above, racing around the steel cables, slashing and stabbing at one another. Zim was holding his own pretty well, but Kez's attacks were far quicker and more precise, Zim was on the defensive for the most part.

Dib stole a glance at them, only to regret it as Relek rushed forwards. He had no time to avoid the leg as it swiped him to the side, knocking him down and sending him skidding across the floor. He landed on his back and pushed himself up onto his elbows, but Relek was already over him, two PAK legs planted on either side of Dib. He raised one, the deadly point poised to strike downwards and end the human. Reacting fast, Dib turned and kicked one of the PAK legs holding Relek up to the side as hard as he could, momentarily catching the Irken off guard and off balance. He took this opportunity to land a hit of his own, driving his fist upwards into the Irkens' jaw.

Dib was never one for physical strength, but it seemed to do the trick. Relek staggered backwards from the blow, taking a moment to steady himself. He looked at Dib, not with hatred but with something akin to amusement.

He charged once again at the human, yellow eyes narrowed to a glare; he was no longer playing around. Dib realized if he kept fighting like this in the open, he would most likely get himself killed. He had to catch the Irken off guard… but how? He ran to the side, narrowly avoiding more slashes from the PAK legs.

His eyes were drawn back to the kitchen… maybe…

It was his best chance at the moment. Zim would be fine.

Without a second thought Dib raced into the kitchen and jumped into the trash can, sending him back to the lower levels of the house.

* * *

><p>Red and amber were locked in an intense battle of endurance and strength. It appeared to be a close match; and just as it seemed neither was going to win…<p>

"ARGH, SHIT, feels like my eyes are gonna fall out of my head!" Nny blinked rapidly and rubbed his eyes. He sat cross legged on the floor of the chamber. Across from him on the other side of the glass was one of Gaz's puppets, staring at him intently. For the past hour they'd been playing this game. Nny, having been an insomniac, was rather good at keeping his eyes open for long periods of time. However, puppets didn't have saliva and therefor, didn't need to blink at all.

"One of these days…" He glared at the puppet, "I'm going to beat you in a staring contest."

The snake-like puppet flicked out its tongue.

"I see." Nny's eye twitched.

He sighed, he really wanted out, being caged like an animal just wasn't his thing. What would he do once he got out? _Well, Gaz is certainly going to be the first to go…_

'_You don't really want to kill her do you?' _

He nearly jumped in surprise; it had been a while since one of his inner voices spoke, which wasn't exactly a _bad _thing. For some reason, those goddamn scientists _hadn't_ tampered with his memory. He remembered all his voices, the Doughboys, Nailbunny, Meat… The latter hadn't spoken at all since being captured by the scientists. How exactly he got captured was a little fuzzy though…

"Who are you?" Nny said out loud. "And yeah, I'm pretty sure I do." The voice definitely didn't sound like Meat, yet it felt familiar somehow…

'_She was only defending herself, Nny.' _It pointed out._ 'I'm something you've always been deprived of.'_

"What the hell does that mean?" He demanded angrily. "Where did you come from?"

'_Questions, questions… You'll figure out soon, after all it should be fairly obvious.'_

Without thinking, only acting on a sudden impulse, Nny's hand reached up to the side of his head and touched the metal tubes. He suddenly understood. "You're from this thing aren't you?" He scowled.

'_Correct. It's good to know that I've finally made contact with you, which means that the implant is starting to take effect. Progress…'_

Nny's eyes narrowed to a dark glare, "I'm not some lab rat. Whatever those damn scientists and that egotistical bastard, Membrane, did to me, I want it gone. So what are you then? I didn't expect them to actually be able to imitate one of my voices."

'_You've basically figured it out yourself. Like you said, I'm an imitation of something you've always been deprived of. I'll give you three guesses as to what that is.'_

He had to admit, he was stumped.

_I'll give you a hint: the closest thing that's ever been even remotely like it came in the form of a dead rabbit._

"…What are you talking about?"

If the voice had a form, Nny was sure it would've rolled its eyes.

"Talking to yourself?" A nonchalant voice said from the doorway. Nny looked over to see Gaz leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest.

Nny shrugged, "If you knew me, you wouldn't be surprised. It happens _a lot._" He slowly got up from his previous sitting position, "However, very few people have known who I really am, _and lived._" He met her stare with a dangerous glare. "So how about you let me out before we_ really_ get to know each other."

Gaz gave a little uninterested 'hmph', she gestured with her chin upwards, "They're looking for you, you know. It's only a matter of time before they capture you and take you back to the lab." She examined her nails with boredom. "But… I'm feeling nice today so how about I make you a deal?"

"A deal?" Nny looked at her as if she'd suddenly started speaking Chinese.

"Yeah, I'm willing to forgive and forget if you are. Just… get out of my house." As an afterthought she added, "…WITHOUT harming any of my stuff or me."

'_Seems like a good deal, Nny, do as she says.'_

"Shut up, don't tell me what to do!" He snapped. It was Gaz's turn to give him a scathing 'what is your problem?' look.

"Not you, the voice in my head." He said with slight chagrin. "So… why the sudden change of heart? You do know I am quite horrendously insane right?" He cocked his head to the side sceptically.

"I never noticed." Gaz deadpanned. She shrugged, "I really don't care either way. You staying here and the scientists coming and finding you or you getting caught out there doesn't make a difference to me." She snapped her fingers and the snake-like doll slithered over to the control panel that operated the chamber. It pressed a button and then a hissing sound filled the air as the frame of the chamber lifted. Nny looked up in surprise.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Gaz confirmed. "Leave."

Nny strode across the room towards the stairs and stopped right in front of Gaz. It would be so easy, strangle her, knock her head in, kill her right now. They stared at each other for a few moments. Nny was still confused as to why she would just decide to let him go like this, knowing how dangerous he was- _oh, that was why._ A low growl came from behind, he didn't need to turn to see the half dozen or so demon puppets looming behind him.

_Now _he understood: make a move to kill her, they would make a move to kill him.

A slow smirk crept onto Gaz's face. Nny felt the edges of his lips tug upwards as well, "Nice."

She moved aside without a word to let him pass, with one last look at her he turned and disappeared up the stairs.

* * *

><p><strong>Argh, I am sorry. I am so sorry. <strong>

**Months for a shitty chapter ;_; but I really just wanted to get this thing up before I put it off for another month or whatever. I just, gaaah… I started another fanfic and I've been really focused on that.**

**So once again, I apologize for this shit and hopefully the next one will be better…**

**It's probably riddled with mistakes too *sniff* forgive me T^T**


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